"No, it can’t.
A 'drug-free world,' which the United Nations describes as a
realistic goal, is no more attainable than an 'alcohol-free
world'—and no one has talked about that with a straight
face since the repeal of Prohibition in the United States in
1933. Prohibition has failed—again. Instead of treating
the demand for illegal drugs as a market, and addicts as
patients, policymakers the world over have boosted the
profits of drug lords and fostered narcostates that would
frighten Al Capone."FOREIGN
POLICY is published by the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.